City Status Announcement - Harpy - July 2014
<> Brothers and sisters of the blood, in whose unbeating hearts eternity lies, It's been a difficult month for Kingsmouth, but the city has risen to the challenge and a great number of Kindred have distinguished themselves. Let us start with the city's most admired citizens. The Sheriff acquitted herself as well as we've come to expect, and with the aid of her invaluable ghouls was absolutely instrumental to the success of the GenuCorp raid. Mister Samuel Richardson has continued to demonstrate why a neonate has earned the city's respect, supplying clean blood and any equipment required, arranging a diversion that ensured off-site reinforcements would not arrive, and hosting Court - as well as claiming two additional territories, Arkham Heights and Hartford. Both already hold the city's respect, but we award each a token laurel in thanks for their continued efforts. While both Aikiko and Mister Richardson have upheld what we would expect from Kindred of their rank, the same cannot be said of Mother Mathis. We expected more leadership from the city's Seneschal during this difficult time, though we continue to Value her as an extraordinary Keeper of Elysium. Eric Driscoll and his unreleased childe Talent were members of the attack and raid teams respectively. Driscoll was torpored while acting in the service of the city, and Talent was grievously wounded. Their sacrifices are respected, and we are pleased to award Eric six laurels on behalf of himself and his childe. Special thanks go to Heather Milani, who was not only instrumental in the success of the raid, but also discovered and recovered the body of Madame Ivory Bancroft, who GenuCorp has apparently been using as a test subject for the last month. She has earned our recognition. All those who have stepped up during this crisis deserve accolades. Mister Flash and Kylie Sangiovanni are both awarded three laurels, two for their efforts on the attack team and one for distinguishing themselves beyond that: Mister Flash for once again demonstrating himself to be the most combat-capable Kindred in the city; Kylie Sangiovanni in recognition of the grievous injuries she sustained in defense of the city. Julius Archer is likewise awarded two laurels for their efforts on the attack team. Isrieal Romanov and Emilie Burrs are each awarded one laurel for their participation in the raid, the latter via her ghoul, Charlie Jacobs. Unfortunately, there has not been universal cooperation. There are many who have not made any meaningful impact; there have been a few whose actions have actually impaired efforts. At the War Council, the raid team's planning was completed before the attack team had stopped bickering over who should be in command: the elder Nosferatu Priscus, or the fledgling Daeva who had never been in a live combat situation. It culminated in a series of text messages from our illustrious 'Ancient', Casper Matius, who took the opportunity to list all his Priscus' faults - at a safe and cowardly distances - and threaten to solve the whole GenuCorp problem by himself if Elaine was not granted the leadership she craved. But why did these text messages interrupt such an important meeting? By what means did Casper manage to be simultaneously craven and disruptive? Because for no sane or rational reason, Elaine felt it appropriate to utterly derail the meeting she had coordinated by passing these messages on. It seems as though it was more important to the young prima-Daeva to be in the spotlight than to get the job done. We do not, of course, suggest that she had anything to do with Driscoll's so-convenient torporing, which left the way open for her to take charge as she had blatantly wished to do. Both made up for their behavior in that meeting during the attack itself, but after much deliberation we have decided a single laurel is a balanced reflection of the esteem they've garnered through their actions. To Elaine we award a second for the spell at Court that provided both fascinating entertainment and safe feeding. Glenn Sierra is awarded one laurel for the intelligence on Bio-Theon's security he was able to provide. Lloyd Araujo is awarded three laurels for his coordination of the cure efforts, and we pray that next month we will be in a position to award him much more in celebration of his success. Lucinde du Bethune is awarded one laurel for her expertise in the last bloodborne disease to affect Kingsmouth, which has provided a starting point. Raine Davis is awarded one laurel for stopping the Fourth of July fireworks in Stratton which would have provided aerosol dispersion for the infection to Kingsport, the least affected of the burroughs. The GenuCorp virus (which we have now heard called 'Cthulflu' and 'Fangpire Fever' - we look forward to seeing which will catch on!) has dominated everyone's minds, and thus this report. The Danse proceeds apace, however, and we would be remiss if we did not give appropriate accolades to those who have taken on the responsibility of managing territory this month. Lloyd Araujo has claimed regency of Merceyside, earning him another laurel. The other territory claims are muddier, however. Kylie Sangiovanni has been appointed Steward of Hartford, but we are challenged by the notion of celebrating her claim when she so cavalierly boasts about violating the claims of others. Isrieal, as regent of the territory, has publicly assured the city that Kylie's boasts are no more than hot air, and that no violation happened. We would not dream of contradicting her: the word of a Valued Regent vastly outweighs that of an Acknowledged Kindred who is publicly bragging about having broken the law. It does, however, indicate a certain intrinsic disrespect on the part of the tiny Crusader. We are also entirely unimpressed with her repeated attack on Robert LeCreux. The first time Kylie torpored 'Soapdish' was after he frenzied on her. The second time was repayment for that attack, for which she never received apology. We trust that the scales are balanced now, and no further episodes will be forthcoming. Violence between one Kindred and another is not, strictly speaking, illegal. Nor is the use of disciplines to control one another. There is a difference between what is illegal and what is acceptable, though, and Kylie Sangiovanni's behavior in this has simply been gauche. Speaking of Isrieal Romanov, we find ourselves divided in our opinions. On the one hand, the Nosferatu Whip has claimed Regency of Bister Shore and been granted Stewardship in Bridgwater. On the other hand, she immediately turned around and appointed a Steward for Bister Shore that even she had to admit was not up to the challenges of the position. Regency is an ongoing responsibility. It seems as though many citizens have only skimmed over the city laws, fixating on the second that says the city will uphold the laws the Regent sets and skipping the part that says that anything that goes wrong inside that territory is the Regent's responsibility to report, manage, and find a solution for. What that means is that if a Regent apprehends a criminal and drags them in front of the Council with evidence (or a confession) of their crime, the Council will take that crime as seriously as if it were a violation of Elysium. It does not mean that the Sheriff's time will be taken up with investigating territory disputes, or that a Regent who cannot enforce their own laws can rely on the Council to do their job for them. All that said, after repeated Council meetings in which a seat was not filled (and may we express our disappointment with Emma Milani and Edward Grey for leaving their respective groups unrepresented), we appreciate that Isrieal has not only stepped up to take on the responsibilities of her torpored Priscus, but anticipated what problems there might be with that and acted in advance to solve them. We also appreciate that Romanov has repeatedly taken the elder's path, responding to conflicts - some of them public and deliberate attempts to bait her - with admirable self-control. She has proven herself willing to prioritize the needs of city and clan over personal vendettas or her own sense of pride, and those are traits to be Valued. ((OOC: The Harpies have a total of 41 laurels to work with. Mother Mathis loses 5 laurels (1 status). Emma and Edward lose 1 laurel. Eric gains 6. Heather gains 5. Lloyd gains 4. Flash, Kylie, and Isrieal gain 3. Archer and Elaine gain 2. Aikiko, Sam, Casper, Glenn, Lucinde, and Raine gain 1.))